Article of repose for supporting the body of a person



Dec. 20, 1960 P. s. FLETCHER 2,965,157

ARTICLE OF REPOSE FOR SUPPORTING THE BODY OF A PERSON Filed June 6, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. PETER s. FLETCHER ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1960 P. s. FLETCHER 2,965,157

ARTICLE OF REPOSE FOR SUPPORTING THE BODY OF A PERSON Filed June 6, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. PETER S. FLETCHER ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1960 P. s. FLETCHER 2,965,157

ARTICLE OF REPOSE FOR SUPPORTING THE BODY OF A PERSON Filed June 6, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. P ET ER S. FLETCHER BY MHZ AT TORNEYS ARTICLE OF REPOSE FOR SUPPORTING BODY OF A PERSON Peter S Fletcher, Boynton Beach, Fla., assignor to Anton Lorenz, Boynton Beach, Fla.

Filed June 6, 1956, Ser. No. 589,672

9 Claims. (Cl. 155106) THE 2,965,157 Patented Dec. 21), 1961) connection between the two links and 22 of said toggle lever mechanism.

The sitting position of the moveable members of the chair shown in Fig. 1 is limited by the abutting engagement of the link 20 of the toggle lever mechanism 18 with a stop 52 mounted on the support 10. In said sitting position, the pivotal connection 24 between the links 20 and 22 of the toggle lever mechanism 18 is slightly to the rear of a center line connecting the pivots 26 and 28. This feature prevents the unit 12 from an undesired tilting from the sitting position shown in Fig. 1 into the reclined position shown in Fig. 2.

If however a person resting on the chair wishes to tilt the unit 12 into the reclined position shown in Fig. 2, a pressure against the back-rest 16 suflices to overcome the locking action ofthe toggle lever mechanism 18, so that I the movable members of the chair may be brought into chair or the like which may be readily tilted from a sitting position into a reclined position and vice versa.

'Other objects and structural details of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, wherein: v

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a tilting arm chair according to the invention, one side wall being broken away,

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the tilting armchair shown in Fig. 1, wherein however the movable members of the chair are in the extreme reclined position,

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a different embodiment of a tilting armchair according to the invention, one side wall being broken away,

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the tilting armchair shown in Fig. 3, wherein however the movable members of the chair are in the extreme reclined position,

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of a further embodiment of a tilting armchair according to the invention, one side wall being broken away, and

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the tilting armchair shown in Fig. 5, wherein however the movable members of the chair are in the extreme reclined position.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, 10 generally indicates a support.

12 generally indicates a unit including a seat 14 and a back-rest 16 rigid with each other.

Said unit 12 is tiltably mounted on the support 10 in the following manner:

A toggle lever mechanism generally indicated by 18 and comprising the links 20 and 22 pivotally connected with each other at 24 is arranged on each side of the chair. The link 20 of the toggle lever mechanism 18 is swingably mounted on the support 10 at 26. The link 22 of the toggle lever mechanism 18 is pivoted to the unit 12 at 28. Guiding means generally indicated by 30 are movably mounted on the support 10 and operatively connected with the unit 12. Said guiding means 30 include a double-armed lever 32 swingably mounted on the support 10 at 34. The upper end of said double-armed lever 32 is pivoted at 36 to one end of a guiding link 38, the other end of which is pivoted to the unit 12 at 40. Furthermore the unit 12 is guided by a second guiding link 42 pivoted to the unit 12 at 44 and to the support 10 at 46.

The lower end of the double-armed lever 32 is pivoted at 48 to one end of a connecting link 50, the other end of which is pivotally connected with the toggle lever the position shown in Fig. 2. The extreme reclined position is limited by a stop 82 arranged on the support 10 for abutting engagement with the movable link 20; if desired, however, the stop 82 may be omitted, it the linksystem of the chair is of the self-locking type.

According to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the chair is also equipped with a leg-rest 54 and a controlling mechanism generally indicated by 56 for propelling same from the sitting position shown in Fig. 1 into the extreme reclined position shown in Fig. 2. The legrest 54 is pivoted at 58 to a link 60 and at 62 to a link 64. The rear end of said last mentioned link 64 is pivoted at 66 to the lower end of an arm 68 crossing said first mentioned link 60 and being pivoted to the unit 12 at 70. The arm 68 and the link 60 are pivotally connected with each other at 72. The rear end of the link 60 is pivoted at 74 to a downward extension 76 of the double-armed lever 32 being rigid with the latter. Thus it becomes obvious that upon a movement of the unit 12 from the position shown in Fig. 1 into the position shown in Fig. 2 the leg-rest 54 is brought from its position shown in Fig. 1 into the position shown in Fig. 2 by means of above described controlling mechanism 56.

According to the embodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 4, again the rear end portion of the unit 112 is pivotally connected at 128 to one link 122 of a toggle lever mechanism 118, the other link 120 of which is pivoted to the support at 126. The links and 122 of said toggle lever mechanism 118 are pivotally connected with each other at 124.

The upper arm of the double-armed guiding lever 132 swingably mounted on the support 110 at 134 is pivoted to the unit 112 at 178. One end of the connecting link is pivoted to the lower arm of said double-armed guiding lever 132 at 148 while the other end of said connecting link 150 is pivoted at 125 to an extension 189 of the link 1200f the toggle lever mechanism 118.

The leg-rest and its control includes the following parts: a leg-rest 154 which is pivoted to a link at 158 and to the link 164 at 162. Said link 164 is pivoted at 133 to an arm 168 swingably mounted on the unit the links 120 and 122 of the toggle lever mechanism 113 mechanism 18 at 24 in coaxial alignment with the pivotal are slightly oil to the rear from the center line between the pivots 126 and 128 when the movable members of the chair are in the sitting position.

The extreme reclined position of the movable members of the chair is shown in Fig. 4, said extreme reclined .posi-i 3 tion being limited by the abutting engagement of the link 120 with another stop 182 mounted on the support 110.

According to the embodiment shown in Figs. and 6, the unit 212 is tiltably mounted on the support 210 in the following manner: I

' A toggle lever mechanism generally indicated by 218 is arranged on each side of the chair. The lower link 220 of each toggle lever mechanism 218 is swingably mounted on the support 210 at 226 while the upper link 222 of the toggle lever mechanism 218 is pivoted to the unit 212 at 228. A bell crank lever 234 is swingably mounted on the seat portion 214 of the unit 212 at 286. A guiding link 288 swingably mounted on the support 210 at 290 is pivoted to one arm of said bell crank lever 284 at 292. The other arm of said bell crank lever 284 is pivoted at 248 to one end of a connecting link 250, the other end of which is pivoted at 223 to an intermediate point of the link 222 of the toggle lever mechanism 218 pivoted to the other link 220 of said toggle lever mech anism 218 at 224.

A leg-rest and its control comprises the following parts:

A leg rest 254 is pivoted at 258 and 262 respectively to two arms of a controlling mechanism 257 in the shape of lazy tongs. One rear arm 294 of the said lazy tongs 257 is pivoted at 296 to an arm 298 swingably mounted on the support 210 at 200. The other rear arm 292 of said lazy tongs 257 is swingably mounted on the unit 212 at 204 and pivotally connected with one end of a link 206 at 208. The other end of said link 206 is pivoted at 209 to the downward extending arm of the bell crank lever 284.

The sitting position of the movable members of the chair is shown in Fig. 5. The lower link 220 of the toggle lever mechanism 218 is in abutting engagement with the stop 252 arranged on the support 210. When the movable members of the chair are in the sitting position, the pivot 224 between the links 220 and 222 of the toggle lever mechanism 218 is slightly towards the front from the center line extending between the pivots 226 and 228.

The extreme reclined position is illustrated by Fig. 6, wherein the link 2220 of the toggle lever mechanism 218 is in abutting engagement with a stop 28-2 mounted on the support 210.

I have described preferred embodiments of my invention, but it is understood that this disclosure is for the purpose of illustration and that various changes in shape and proportion, as well as the substitution of equivalent elements for those herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

For example the connecting link may be connected with an intermediate point of the lower link of the toggle lever mechanism instead of with an extension thereof as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 or it may be connected with an extension of the upper link of the toggle lever mechanism instead of with an intermediate point of said upper link as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. There are other pivotal connections feasible between the connecting link and the links arranged between the unit and the support.

What I claim is:

l. A reclining chair comprising a support, a body-sup porting unit including a seat and back-rest rigid with each other, a toggle lever assembly mounting the body-supporting unit on the support for movement between an upright sitting position and a rearwardly-tilted reclining position, said toggle lever assembly comprising a pair of links hin ed to each other at a knee pivot, means pivotally connecting one of said links to said support, means pivotally connecting the other of said links to the seat at the rear end portion thereof, said pair of links having a dead center position in which they are in substantial alignment with each other, said pair of links being located slightly to one side of said dead center position in the upright position of said unit, a lever having one arm connecting a portion of said seat to said support forwardly of said toggle lover I answer assembly and having a second arm adapted to move relative to the seat in response to rearward tilting movement of the unit, and a connecting link operatively connected to said second arm and to said toggle lever assembly, such that movement of said lever actuates said toggle lever assembly through said connecting link causing said toggle lever assembly to move through said dead center position and break at said knee pivot and bringing said pair of links into an angularly disposed position relative to each other, whereby the rear end portion of the seat is lowered sharply in response to a short rearward movement of the seat.

2. A reclining chair according to claim 1 in which the connecting link is pivoted to said toggle lever assembly at said knee pivot.

3. A reclining chair according to claim 1 in which the connecting link is pivoted to one of the pair of links of said toggle lever assembly at a point spaced from said knee pivot.

4. A reclining chair comprising a support, a body supporting unit including a seat and back-rest rigid with each other, a toggle lever assembly mounting the bodysupporting unit on the support for movement between an upright sitting position and a rearwardly-tilted reclining position, said toggle lever assembly comprising a pair of links hinged to each other at a knee pivot, means pivotally connecting one of said links to said support with said one link upstanding from said support, means pivotally connecting the other of said links to the seat at the rear end portion thereof with said other link depending from said seat, said pair of links being in substantially vertical alignment in the upright position of said unit, guiding means connecting a portion of said seat to said support forwardly of said toggle lever assembly, said guiding means including a double-armed lever pivoted intermedb: ate its ends on said support and having one end operatively connected to the seat, and a connecting link operatively connecting the other end of said double-armed lever with said toggle lever assembly, movement of said other end of said double-armed lever causing said toggle lever assembly to break at said knee pivot and bringing said pair of links into an angularly disposed position relative to each other, whereby the rear end portion of the seat is lowered.

5. A reclining chair comprising a support, a bodysupporting unit including a seat and back-rest rigid with each other, a toggle lever assembly mounting the bodysupporting unit on the support for movement between a sitting position and a reclining position, said toggle lever assembly comprising a pair of links hinged to each other at a knee pivot, means pivotally connecting one of said links to said support, means pivotally connecting the other of said links to the seat at the rear end portion thereof, said pair of links being in substantial alignment in the sitting position of said unit, guiding means connecting a portion of said seat to said support forwardly of said toggle lever assembly and having a portion adapted to move in response to tilting movement of the unit, means operatively connecting said guiding means portion with said toggle lever assembly such that movement of said guiding means portion causes said toggle lever assembly to break at said knee pivot and bring said pair of links into an angularly disposed position relative to each other, whereby the rear end portion of the seat is lowered, a leg-rest and a leg-rest control linkage for raising said leg-rest from a retracted position to an extended position, said guiding means being also operatively connected to the leg-rest control linkage for driving the latter and bringing said leg-rest to its extended position when the unit is brought to its reclining position.

6. A reclining chair comprising a support, a bodysupporting unit including a seat and backrest rigid with each other, a toggle lever assembly mounting the bodysupporting unit on the support for movement between an upright sitting position and a rearwardly-tilted reclining position, said toggle lever assembly comprising a pair of links hinged to each other at a knee pivot, means pivotally connecting one of said links to said support with said one link upstanding from said support, means pivotally connecting the other of said links to the seat at the rear end portion thereof with said other link depending from said seat, said pair of links being in substantially vertical alignment in the upright position of said unit, guiding means connecting a portion of said seat to said support forwardly of said toggle lever assembly, said guiding means including a double-armed lever pivoted intermediate its ends on said support and having one end operatively connected to the seat, a connecting link operatively connecting the other end of said doublearmed lever with said toggle lever assembly, movement of said other end of said double-armed lever causing said toggle lever assembly to break at said knee pivot and bringing said pair of links into an angularly disposed position relative to each other, whereby the rear end portion of the seat is lowered, a legrest, and a leg-rest control linkage for raising said leg-rest from a retracted position to an extended position, said other end of the doublearmed lever being also operatively connected to the legrest control linkage for driving the latter and bringing said leg-rest to its extended position when the unit is rearwardly tilted.

7. A reclining chair comprising a support, a bodysupporting means including a seat and a back-rest, a linkage mounting said body-supporting means on the support for movement between a sitting position and a rearwardly-tilted reclining position, said linkage including a guiding means connected to the front portion of said body-supporting means and a guiding assembly connected to the rear portion of said body-supporting means, said guiding assembly having a first toggle link with piv otal means connecting it to said body-supporting means, a second toggle link with pivotal means connecting it to said support, said guiding assembly and said guiding means cooperating to guide said body-supporting unit rearwardly in a substantially horizontal direction in an initial motion phase from the sitting position, and an operating link having an operative connection with said guiding means and actuated therefrom, said first toggle link, said second toggle link and said operating link being interconnected with each other to produce a toggle etfect when the body-supporting means is near the sitting position, whereby the included angle between the toggle links is decreased and the body-supporting means is moved through a second motion phase in which its rear portion is lowered rapidly relative to its front end.

8. A reclining chair comprising a support member, a body-supporting unit including a seat member and backrest rigid with each other, a toggle lever assembly mounting the body-supporting unit on the support member for movement between a sitting position and a reclining position, said toggle lever assembly comprising a pair of links hinged to each other at a knee pivot, means pivotally connecting one of said links to said support member with said one link upstanding from said support, means pivotally connecting the other of said links to the seat member at the rear end portion thereof with said other link depending from said seat member, said pair of links being in substantially vertical alignment in the upright position of said unit, guiding means connecting a portion of said seat member to said support member forwardly of said toggle lever assembly, said guiding means including a double-armed lever pivoted intermediate its ends on one of said members and having one end operatively connected to the other member, and a connecting link operatively connecting the other end of said double-armed lever with said toggle lever assembly, movement of said other end of said double-armed lever causing said toggle lever assembly to break at said knee pivot and bringing said pair of links into an angularly disposed position relative to each other, whereby the rear end portion of the seat member is lowered.

9. A reclining chair comprising a support, a bodysupporting unit including a seat and back-rest rigid with each other, a toggle lever assembly mounting the bodysupporting unit on the support for movement between a sitting position and a reclining position, said toggle lever assembly comprising a pair of toggle links hinged to each other at a knee pivot, one of said toggle links being pivotally mounted on said support and the other of said toggle links being pivotally connected to the rear end portion of the seat at a point spaced substantially vertically above the pivotal mount of said one toggle link on the support, said pair of toggle links being in substantial alignment in the sitting position of said unit to support the rear end of the seat in raised position, means connecting a portion of said seat to said support forwardly of said toggle lever assembly and having a portion adapted to move in response to tilting movement of the unit, means operatively connecting said link means portion with said toggle lever assembly such that movement of said guiding means portion in response to a short movement of the seat draws the toggle links away from their aligned position and causes said toggle lever assembly to break at said knee pivot to bring said pair of toggle links into an angularly disposed position relative to each other, whereby the rear portion of the seat is lowered sharply in response to short rearward movement of said seat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,896,048 Grinnell Ian. 31, 1933 2,256,004 Thomas Sept. 16, 1941 2,664,942 Spear Jan. 5, 1954 2,672,919 Luckhardt Mar. 23, 1954 2,693,845 Hoifman Nov. 9, 1954 2,750,988 Luckhardt June 19, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 516,682 Great Britain Ian. 9, 1940 691,437 Germany May 27, 1940 

